Who invented Cheskers in 1948 and coined the name?

Solomon W. Golomb invented Cheskers in 1948 and coined the name. Golomb was born on May 30, 1932 and he lived until May 1, 2016. He was an American mathematician, engineer, and professor of electrical engineering at the University of Southern California. He best known for his works on mathematical games.

He also fully described polyominoes and pentominoes in 1953. He was very well known because he specialized in problems of combinatorial analysis, number theory, coding theory, and communications. His game of pentomino inspired Tetris.

During his life, Golomb was a regular columnist, writing Golomb's Puzzle Column in the IEEE Information Society Newsletter. Also, he was a frequent contributor to Scientific American's Mathematical Games column and a frequent participant in Gathering 4 Gardner conferences. Among his contributions to recreational mathematics are Rep-tiles. He also contributed a puzzle to each issue of the Johns Hopkins Magazine, a monthly publication of his undergraduate alma mater. Additionally, he was a frequent contributor to Word Ways: The Journal of Recreational Linguistics.